


Frightening the Widow

by Sandra_Taylor



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Civil War Team Iron Man, Gen, Natasha Romanoff critical
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-03
Updated: 2018-04-03
Packaged: 2019-04-17 16:33:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,426
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14193117
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sandra_Taylor/pseuds/Sandra_Taylor
Summary: Natasha perfected the act of disappearance long ago. After civil war, it came handy.But then reality hits.Consequences being a thing is something I really like in MCU fics. And you can't tell me that Tony walked away from that fight with only a broken arm...





	Frightening the Widow

**Author's Note:**

> I have very conflicted feelings regarding Natasha in Civil War. This is my way of dealing with them.

Natasha always knew how to disappear. She might have been a SHIELD agent for almost two decades now, but first she was a red room operative. The art of disappearing might not have been the first thing she learned there, but it’s the most useful one, the one she kept using while working for SHIELD.

It took her hardly a day. She cut her hair short and dyed it black, invested in some heavy make-up to change her features just enough and bought a new wardrobe, mostly made up with light, flowery dresses. The kind she would never wear voluntarily.

And that’s where she is now. In Egypt, close enough to Europe to help if she’s needed, just out of reach all the same and perfect for her cover of another white girl on a holiday.

She’s not nervous. Not at first. Steve might not be as good as her in disappearing, but even he knows when to lay low. And Stark...

It takes three days for her to get nervous. Stark likes to prepare for his media appearances, so it’s not that surprising when he doesn’t show up right after their Leipzig fight. But when three days pass, the UN gets together to talk Accords again and Stark is still nowhere to be found...

Natasha worries.

By the time the week is over she’s not the only one. The whole world asks to know where Tony Stark, where Iron Man is, demanding and with little patience. They want someone to pay for the damage and it’s so easy to blame Stark, isn’t it?

Natasha agrees with them, not really thinking about it twice. How dare Stark hide from his responsibility?

After a week, Pepper Potts calls a press conference. Natasha scoffs at that. Of course Stark lets his girlfriend handle the fallout.

But still. Pepper is her friend. She watches the conference.

“Thank you all for coming in such a short notice.”

Pepper looks exhausted and Natasha is startled by that. There are dark circles under her blood-shot eyes, she’s paler than usual and she’s clenching her hands in such a way that Natasha knows they would be shaking if she didn’t do that. Natasha has never seen Pepper other than perfect, always in control, even while dealing with Justin Hammer.

This... this is Pepper falling apart and Natasha has no idea what to do with that information.

“First, good news. Colonel Rhodes is out of danger, he’s stable and, provided he will continue in his physical therapy individually, he will be discharged in just few days.”

The room shivers with relief and Natasha can feel a part of the weight on her shoulders giving in.

But she doesn’t get the chance to breathe freely, because Pepper continues, her blue eyes hard as steel.

“He is, however, permanently on a wheelchair.”

The room gets eerily quiet and the weight on Natasha’s shoulders is back, heavier than before.

“Colonel Rhodes’ injury is permanent and if there is someone in the world capable of healing him,” there’s an accusation in Pepper’s voice and Natasha shivers. She knows what Pepper’s talking about. T’Challa’s UN speech aired just yesterday, “they’re not willing to do so for a battled veteran, who served his country dutifully his whole life. Believe me. I personally contacted anyone and everyone I thought would be able to help. Most of them tried their best.”

Pepper takes a bottle of water and sips delicately. The whole room is dead quiet and Natasha shivers.

She knows Pepper. And this is not her merely informing the press about what’s going on. This is her declaring war. Possibly to the whole world.

“Now to the news you all are actually here for.”

Pepper smiles and Natasha shivers.

It’s not easy to frighten Black Widow. Yet Pepper Potts did it with single icy smile.

“I’m pleased to inform you that the odds of mister Stark surviving are back in the positive numbers after the last operation.”

The silence in the room gets interrupted by some confused muttering and Pepper’s smile widens. It’s not a good sight.

Natasha’s heart clenches.

“Now, I understand you’re confused, so please, let me explain.”

Pepper looks down to her notes for a minute. Somehow, Natasha doubts it’s to get her story straight. Pepper never needs a moment to collect herself.

“After the battle of Leipzig, mister Stark got information about mister Rogers and the Winter Soldier going to Siberia. He contacted the Russian ambassador for the UN. He got their permission, of course, and moved to an abandoned HYDRA base to apprehend these criminals. It’s not clear what happened after. All we know right now is that FRIDAY, the AI assisting mister Stark with his Iron Man armor, lost contact with the suit and contacted me and Vision about it immediately. We got into contact with Russian government and were permitted entry the moment we explained the situation. I would like to thank mister Bolstoj right now, who made the decision and, I’m sure, took the responsibility for that decision. Thank you, sir.”

She looks right into the camera for the first time. Also for the first time, just for a moment, there’s a genuine emotion in them.

Gratitude.

“If it wasn’t for you, Tony Stark would be dead right now.”

There’s an uproar in the room.

(Natasha doesn’t steady herself with her hand on the table in front of her. But it’s a close thing.)

Pepper hardly even raises one hand and glances towards bodyguards behind her. They make a step forward and the press quietens once again.

“We managed to get to mister Stark approximately eight hours after FRIDAY contacted us. By that time, mister Stark was unconscious with some severe frostbites. Those are not our main concern right now, however, neither is the risk of pneumonia. Mister Stark’s chest was crushed, most of his ribs damaged in some way and his left lung collapsing shortly after we arrived. If we weren’t there with medical attention at that moment...”

Pepper’s voice wavers and she looks down once again. When she looks back up, there are tears in her eyes, but other than that, her face is emotionless.

Natasha can hear the press whispering about themselves, but it’s like an afterthought. She feels dread like she’s never felt it before.

How did he... Stark was fine when she left. Sure, his arm, but...

“His nose was broken, his arm broken more than it was after the Leipzig fight. The doctors also detected a concussion and internal bleeding. Most of his injuries were linked back to the shield left behind. We all know who that shield belongs to.”

One of the bodyguards behind her steps forward once again, to stand right next to Pepper. Steve’s shield in his hands.

The press gets loud again, shouting their denial, their accusation of Pepper making it all up. Pepper just stands there, her eyes unmoving, empty.

Natasha collapses into a chair nearby, her hand coming up to cover her mouth. That can’t be...

She doesn’t want to believe it, but she knows Pepper. Not only would she not lie about something like that. She would never bring it to press’ attention without proof.

“That’s enough!”

Oh no. There’s more?

“There were four operations just this week to repair mister Stark’s chest and to make sure that he will be able to breathe without artificial help after all this is over. We’re still not sure about how complete his recovery will be.”

Once again Pepper makes eye contact with the camera and Natasha hears the unsaid.

If he makes the recovery...  
“But let me make one thing clear. No matter what the UN decides, no matter what the government or the president says. Stark Industries will be pressing charges for attempted murder, among other things. The restraining order should be in place by the end of the day. I won’t take any questions today. Thank you.”

With that Pepper ends the conference.

Natasha blinks twice and looks around.

She’s in the lobby of a hotel she checked herself in. The tv she was focused on is back to background noise, just low enough that it’s not disturbing anyone, but loud enough so that when people concentrate on it they can hear it the same way Natasha did just a minute ago.

There’s a slight tremor in her left hand. Almost unnoticeable to any normal human being, but she feels it the same way she feels the loud heartbeat in her head.

Tony... oh God, Tony.

What has she done?

**Author's Note:**

> First let me say this - I don't think Shuri or T'Challa would withhold any kind of tech that could help Rhodey. But I'm guessing that for it to be effective it has to be done as soon after the injury as possible. Week later? Yeah, it would be useless. But Pepper is not exactly rational or listening to reason at the moment.  
> Also, the timing is possibly all wrong, but hey, it's MCU timeline so let's pretend this works.
> 
> I don't really have much more to say to this. I don't think Tony really tried to kill Steve or Bucky (because he really, really could if he tried. Easily), but that doesn't mean that he was left uninjured after the fight. I call bullshit about him being basicaly all right at the end of the movie.  
> I have no idea how medicine works. The list of injuries is something I find commonly in the fics and I find it very believable.  
> Also, I don't exactly ship Pepperony. I think that Pepper cares about him very much, he's one of her closest friends and it hurts to see two of her best friends (the other being Rhodey, of course) in such a state. That's why she's reacting that way in my fic. You're free to interpret it as you like, just thought I'd tell you why it's not tagged.
> 
> Any kind of feedback is deeply appreciated.


End file.
